Muscle Wire Crawler

Name of Event: Muscle Wire Crawler
Robots per Event: One
Length of Event: 1 minute maximum
Robot Weight Range: Any
Robot Dimensions: 18 cm x 18cm, any height
Arena Specifications: 2m long
Robot Control: Autonomous
Engineering Principles: Electrical engineering
Event Summary: Robots with legs or wheels acuated by shape memory alloywires (e.g. NiiTiNOL) must rush from point to point, with the fastest robot winning. The robots may not have any traditional motors. All actuation must come from the shriking and expansion of shape memory allow wires.
         

Background:
The Muscle Wire Crawler teaches the fundamental skills needed for more advanced designs. This competition encourages the builder to make sure the electronics are working properly, and more importantly, make sure the Muscle Wire Crawler is mechanically sound.

A standard, stock Muscle Wire Crawler should be able to cover a 2 meter distance. With some careful tweaking, you should be able to aim it with some degree of accuracy, and get it as close to the target as possible.

The Racing Platform:
The racing platform can be any surface, measuring 2m long. The starting and finishing lines are measured 10cm off the ends of the sheet. So total race course is 180cm.

Muscle Wire Crawler - The Race:
Competitors will race consecutively, with all the Muscle Wire Crawlers starting at or behind the starting line on roughly the same point. Each competitor will aim their own Muscle Wire Crawler towards the finish line, and when given the signal, will release it and leave it to self-activate. After it finishes its run, the Muscle Wire Crawlers' time will be recorded.

Each competitor will be able to run their Muscle Wire Crawler three times, and the best run used for determining the winner.